Lot 818
1797 Draped Bust Half Dime. 13 stars. NCS graded Details of About Uncirculated corroded, bent. Well struck, untoned with plenty of original mint luster still present. Light die clash marks. A coin that should stir plenty of interest among Half Dime enthusiasts. A very scarce coin with only 4 graded at NGC.
Historic note: Despite generations of inaccurate cataloging, the order of types in 1797 is chronologically 15 stars, then 16, finally 13. From the Breen encyclopedia: "This is only logical; the 15-star dies were left over from fall 1795, with final digit omitted, as was then common practice. The 16-star die, like its counterparts in all other silver and gold denominations, was made in 1796 alluding to Tennessee's admission to the Union as the sixteenth state (June 1), but if any presentation strikings were made of the half dismes, they have not shown up. And the permanent shift to 13 stars followed Mint Director Elias Boudinot's realizing that the Mint could not go on indefinitely adding new stars as new states entered the Union."
Estimated Value $5,000 - 5,500.
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| Realized $4,830 |
